Homeschooling parents: What are your top 5 gadgets you can't do without when HS'ing?

Question

I thought it would be fun to see everyone's top 5 "gadgets" you can't do without when homeschooling. Here's my list:

1. large paper cutter

2. electric pencil sharpener

3. high-quality three-hole punch

4. laminator

5. comb binding machine

What are your top five?

Answer 1

My coffee maker.

The computer.

Printer.

Globe, or maps, regular, and topographical.

Electric pencil sharpener with hand held back up in case of a power failure.

Answer 2

dunno- unless ur kid is a vocab freak, he'll/she'll have a better chance in an actual SCHOOL!

Answer 3

5. Internet

4. Timer

3. Kitchen supplies (we use cooking for all sorts of classes)

2. TV -- educational shows & games and just plain ole good movies

1. Our farm.  We use every part of our land, home and barn, as well as all the critters for just about every class we study.  We love being outdoors and being together!

Answer 4

Since my son is still fairly young, the most important things we use are:

1.http://www.montessori.edu/

2.Children's cookbooks, art supplies, things that help my son "do things himself" (although he is three, he loves being independent.)

3.Torah for Children (religious education is important to us)

4.Overhead machine for showing DVD's and slideshows

5.Legos and wood blocks, help with motor coordination, spatial-temporal reasoning and visualization, and are really fun to play with.

Answer 5

The PC and internet access top the list!

EDIT: The DVD player and our library cards are also important tools for homeschool.

Answer 6

those are good....

i'd have to add

dry erase board

Answer 7

I'll just put   'ditto' on Glee's list.  

I started to do a silly thing using the uninformed ideas of anti-homeschool people but decided it would not be funny...cause anti-homeschool people would take it seriously...  because....they have absolutely no sense of humor.  

I hope they don't get all defensive about that statement.(smile)

Answer 8

My top "gadget" would have to be the computer! Next would be our DVD player (we rent from Netflix all the time!).

All of my kids are interested in created images and web pages, as well as computer programming and networking, so I would consider some of the software as tops on my "gadget list." Things like:

An office suite (I like the free Open Office suite - it does everything the Microsoft suite does and you can't beat the price! Download at http://www.openoffice.org)

Graphics, Illustration and Web editing software - I like the Adobe products (Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign) and Dreamweaver and even the newer FrontPage.

Answer 9

1. Our new microscope!

2. My three hole punch

3. Library card (not a gadget, but something I can't live without)

4. Computer

5. Car !

Answer 10

1. sense of humor

2. computer

3. library card

4. chocolate

5. full night sleep

Answer 11

When I homeschooled myself for a year in sixth grade, I couldn't go without a:

1. Dry erase board.

2. Computer

3. Hole puncher.

4. Laminator <3

5. Graph paper.

Answer 12

1. Laser pointer.

2. "The Art of War" for dummies.

3. Duct tape.

4. Re-loading machine for bullets/ shotgun shells.

5. The PC for taunting my poor child, by showing them pics of kids having fun and learning in public schools, like proms, sports teams, drama club, marching band, dances, pep assemblies, etc...(That really drives it home to see what they are missing out on socially!)

;)

Answer 13

1 Math U See blocks

2 Pencil sharpener

3 Computer

4 Printer

5 Dry Erase board and Markers

Answer 14

Only other homeschools understand this question...funny how that works.. so here are my answers:

1. computer

2. 3 hole punch

3. COFFEE

4. lots of printer paper

5. LEGOS

Answer 15

I LOVE this question--

1. Computer/printer

a much needed accessory in homeschooling.  I use it to create curriculum, grade reports, all sorts of schedules and paperworks. My kids used it to create reports, learn to program, play educational games, etc.

2. dice

When kids are little dice, cards, pennies, and many other items are Math. You can use them to reinforce all sorts of rote learning, comparisons, counting, etc.  Wonderful tools.

3. Construction paper/ art accessories

You use them all the way to Highschool.  Create all sorts of projects, posters, charts, reports, artwork, etc. From color-coded phonics charts for a 4yo to complex charts and ratios of a 15yo.  These are a necessity.

4. Batteries, wires, christmas lights, and other "trash" for science.

What would we do without using christmas lights, 9volt batteries and paperclip (switches) to make series and parallel circuits?  My kids made all sorts of "inventions" and did all sorts of physics experiments with household misc that other people see as trash.

5. Balls

You can do all sorts of games to reinforce learning with balls.  From pingpong balls to basketballs they are a great learning tool as well as good exercise. My kids learned to add by tossing pingpong balls I had numbered into buckets and adding up the score.  Learning is always better when it is done with fun.

Did I tell you how great this question is?  I love it.

Answer 16

We unschool, so I'm not sure what I'd put down, we don't use gadgets per se, but I have a top five list of things we use a LOT!

iMac with internet (for research) and skype (for the teens)

library (complete with awesome librarians and great hang out)

Ford excursion (for traveling with our friends)

huge backyard (for building and destroying and just Being)

play room with lots of freedom

Answer 17

Computer for submission of lessons and portfolios

Pencils & pens

Paper & Notebooks

COFFEE

Advanced calculator

Depends on which course you are studying though.

Answer 18

1 computer

2 calculator

3 printer

4 hole punch

5 pencil sharpener

Answer 19

electric pencil sharpener

VCR/DVD/CD player

computer

phone [I put this item in for the dear students' sake - they LOVE having the phone ring during school - the little dears SCATTER]

sense of humor [oh, can that be a 'gadget'?]

Answer 20

same as urs

Answer 21

CD or MP3 player (DS *loves* audio books)

Stand mixer (he loves to bake, too!)

Computer with printer

DVD player/TV - there are so many great DVDs at the library

Electric pencil sharpener

Answer 22

computer

learning cd's

cassette player

hooked on phonics tapes & books

pencil, paper & eraser

dry erase markers & boards are great too!

I want to get some math u see blocks!!!!

what's a comb binding machine?

Answer 23

1. Same as yours

2.  Computer and net connection

3.  Microscope. (bought this for her for Christmas!  She and her public schooled friends spent Boxing Day looking at blood through it! Home school rocks!!)

4. Printer

5. The helpful suggestions I get from here and other home school forums.

Answer 24

Janis B...

My stab at humor will probably not be as good as your would have been but... anyway...

1 - Metal detector

2 - Drug sniffing dog(s)

3 - Bathroom coupon (only three trips per semester)

4 - Calculator (for "learning" how to do basic math)

5 - A paddle with holes drilled in it and hanging on the wall

----

OK... my real list...

1 - Computer / Internet

2 - Whiteboard

3 - Strunk & White's Elements of Style

4 - My old pickup truck for running my ds around to coop, clubs, etc.

5 - Other homeschool parents (they are some real fancy gadgets!)

Answer 25

a computer, a tape recorder/cd player, vcr , my car (to go to and from great places on a field trip), my file cabinent to organize everything

Answer 26

pencil

pen

paper

books

teacher